Seventy Years Later, Disneyland Still Echoes Walt Disney's Childhood in Marceline Missouri

This year marks the 70th anniversary of Disneyland, the Anaheim, California theme park that was the longtime dream of a Midwest visionary, Walter Elias Disney.

I’m not sure when my first visit was to Disneyland, but I suspect it was 1956, the year after the park opened. My family lived in Los Angeles, and Disneyland was the talk of the town, as well as the nation. We were within an hour’s drive of the Magic Kingdom, and we went annually for the first few years of the park’s existence. For a youngster, it was pure joy, from the pack mule rides (yes, they had live mules in those early days), to encounters with bad-guy Black Bart on Main Street (he’s gone now) to the eye-popping Jungle Boat ride with animatronic hippos, elephants and crocodiles, all state-of-the-art in the 1950s.

Over the years, I watched Disneyland evolve, as the rocket ships gave way to the Carousel of Progress and we were treated to the Monsanto House of Tomorrow. As early as the ‘70s, GE showed us that someday we’d be able to talk on the telephone and see the person on the other end.

Then as today, we all passed through Main Street USA, which opened up to the many lands beyond – Tomorrowland, Fantasyland, Frontierland and Adventureland. That was where our annual sojourns began, perhaps with hot chocolate at the Carnation House, and a ride in a horsedrawn carriage or stagecoach – yes, they all existed when Main Street first opened. On the way out, we’d stop at the Penny Arcade, where you could view silent films and then go next door to the Candy Palace to load up on treats for the ride home.

I thought you might enjoy a peek at Walt Disney’s hometown, Marceline, Missouri, where he lived from the time he was 4 until he was almost 10, and where his “imagineering” spark was first lit.

I stumbled upon this small town –today its population is just 2,223 – on a trip across Missouri State Highway 36, as I was heading toward Hannibal, Mark Twain’s hometown. When I spied a highway marker reading “Marceline, Walt Disney’s Hometown,” I made the quick decision to go exploring. What a treat!

A highlight of the town is the Walt Disney Hometown Museum, housed in a renovated and restored Santa Fe Depot, so fitting because Walt Disney loved trains, (and you’ll soon learn how that came to be.) The museum houses a large, unique collection of Disney family artifacts.

Confession: I haven’t been to Disneyland in years, well, make that decades. But after writing this story, I’m planning a return trip to the Magic Kingdom this December, and I plan to hang out a lot on Main Street USA.

Street banners in Marceline, Missouri salute their hometown hero, Walt Disney.

Photo by Kris Grant.

Locomotive No. 2546, an oil-burning 2-8-0 “Consolidation” steam locomotive, was built in 1911 and has been a fixture in Marceline’s E. P. Ripley Park since 1955. The train was donated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe railroad, which founded Marceline and also donated the land for the park, which is named after Edward Payson Ripley who served as the railroad’s president from 1895 to 1920. Walt and Roy Disney posed with the engine on their 1956 visit to Marceline. The “Santa Fe & Disneyland R. R.” was painted on the engine before their arrival, reflecting Walt’s love of railroads, which he traces back to his childhood days in Marceline. Photo by Kris Grant

Marceline, Missouri was founded in 1887 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The railroad needed towns about every 100 miles to house maintenance yards, including a roundhouse and coal chutes. Its location on the Santa Fe line made it a strategic stop between Kansas City and Chicago. The town quickly developed around the railroad, with shops, hotels and businesses springing up to serve railroad workers and travelers. Agriculture –particularly corn, apples and livestock – also supported the town economy but the railroad remained dominant.

Walt Disney’s father, Elias, was a man who never shied from hard work but whose restless pursuit of opportunity rarely paid off. A carpenter by trade, he followed his brother Robert to Chicago from Florida to help construct the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, better known as the Chicago World’s Fair.

After the exposition work was completed, Elias stayed in Chicago and built homes. Yet, Elias always felt the grass was greener elsewhere. When

his brother Robert who had moved to Marceline to work as an engineer on the Santa Fe Railroad, told him of the fertile land there, Elias was intrigued. Dreaming of a life in the country and thinking it a more moral way to bring up his family, he bought a 45-acre farm for $3,000 with money he made selling the family house he had built in Chicago in 1893. (That home has been recently restored and is the site of the Walt Disney Birthplace House Museum.)

And so, in the spring of 1906, the Disney family, led by Elias and including Walt’s mother, Flora, a former schoolteacher, brothers Herbert, Raymond, Roy and Walt and younger sister Ruth moved to Marceline. Alas, the soil was not as productive as Elias hoped, pests plagued his orchard, and he had neither the specialized knowledge nor the patience to turn a profit. The older boys, Herbert and Raymond, were pressed into long hours of labor. This created resentment, and they soon headed back to Chicago, initially taking positions as clerks. From

that point on, the older sons limited their association with their father, and it has been suggested that his stern discipline and strong temper had driven a wedge into their relationship.

Yet, while Elias encountered mud, pests and endless labor, Walt saw wideopen streets, horse-drawn wagons and the rhythmic pulse of small-town life: a place where community, imagination and childhood magic could thrive.

In Marceline, Roy, Walt and Ruth became especially close. For young Walt, the short five years in Marceline became an idyllic memory, shaping his vision of Main Street USA.

It also spurred his love of trains. Walt loved watching the trains, hearing the hiss of steam engines and clatter of wheels and riding the locomotives. When his uncle Mike Martin, also a railroad engineer, steered his train into town, he would give a special toot of his horn, then stop the train to allow Walt to climb into the cab. Walt would then ride with him into the railroad yard.

Marceline’s Santa Fe Depot, constructed in 1913, faced the threat of demolition in 1998, the last Amtrak passenger train having passed through in 1997. Recognizing the historical significance of the depot, a group of dedicated local citizens and organizations rallied to save the building. Their efforts culminated in the establishment of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in 2001, housed within the restored depot. While trains no longer stop in Marceline (unless by prior arrangement for a special event), more than 70 freight trains pass by the depot daily.

The museum not only preserves the architectural integrity of the depot but also showcases exhibits that honor Walt Disney’s childhood in Marceline and the railroad’s history.

The Walt Disney Hometown Museum is housed in the former Santa Fe Depot in Marceline. Although more than 70 trains, mostly freight, pass by daily, the depot closed to passenger service in 1997, when Amtrak discontinued its Southwest Chief stop there. In 1887 the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe founded Marceline as a division point for locomotive servicing, crew changes and yards. The company built the brick depot building in 1913. Upper photo courtesy of Walt Disney Hometown Museum; bottom photo by Kris Grant.

Museum cofounder and director Kaye Malins picks up the story.

“It was in Marceline that Walt experienced many ‘firsts,’” explained Kaye, who grew up in Marceline and over the years became close with the Disney children. “This is where Walt first went to school, saw his first play, Peter Pan, which he later made into a movie, and watched his first motion picture. It’s also where he began to draw. His Aunt Maggie (his father’s sister, Margaret Disney) gave him his first drawing materials and encouraged his artistic side. He began sketching animals around the farm, especially his neighbor’s horses. He sold his first drawing when Doc Sherwood asked him to draw his prize stallion, Rupert. Walt told him, ‘I don’t think I can.’ ‘Of course you can,’ Doc Sherwood told him. And when Walt gave him his drawing, the doctor paid him 25 cents. Roy said Walt was so proud of that quarter that he clung to it all the way home. Today, Doc Sherwood’s office is commemorated in one of the windows on Main Street in Disneyland.

Kaye Malins, founder and executive director of the Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

“Walt watched his first fireworks in Marceline,” Kaye continued, noting that every 4th of July the town continues to have a major fireworks show. “Walt always said ‘fireworks are like a kiss goodnight,’ which is probably why he insisted that Disneyland have a fireworks show every night throughout the summer. (Today, special fireworks displays also take place around Halloween and Christmas.)

“I truly don’t think Walt Disney would have been Walt Disney without Marceline,” Kaye said. “He thought of Disneyland as one big family and that is how he remembered Marceline.”

Kaye should know. She is a former Disneyland “Cast Member” as Disney employees at all the parks are called to this day.

Kaye’s lifelong Disney adventures began when she was just 8, and it was all because her parents had just built a new air-conditioned house. “It was the 4th of July weekend in 1956, the year after Disneyland opened,” she said. “Walt and Roy had agreed to come back to Marceline to dedicate the new Walt Disney Swimming Municipal Pool and Park. Our hotel in town did not have air conditioning and town officials asked my parents if they could host Walt and Roy and their wives. My dad was immediately thrilled but when my mom heard about it, not so much. She was mortified because she didn’t believe our hand-me-down furnishings would meet the moment. But her friends, hearing of her plight, quickly outfitted our home with fine furniture, China and crystal.

“I met Walt and his wife Lillian in our living room. Being quite precocious at the time, I asked him, ‘What room are you sleeping in?’ and he then asked me, ‘Well, you tell me, what room should we sleep in?’ ‘The pink room,’ I told him because that was my room. So, my claim to fame is that Walt and Lillian Disney stayed in my room.”

Walt and Roy Disney received a warm welcome when they visited Marceline over the 4th of July weekend in 1956, just one year after opening Disneyland. In 1956, Roy O. Disney (Walt’s older brother) served as co-founder of Walt Disney Productions (today’s Disney Company). His official title then was President of Walt Disney Productions, while Walt was Vice President in charge of Production. While Walt dreamed up Disneyland and oversaw its design and creative details, Roy made sure the money was there to build it and keep it running.

In addition to attending the opening of the Walt Disney Municipal Pool and Park, Walt also attended the dedication of Walt Disney Elementary School on Oct. 16, 1960. “While there are several schools named in his honor, we are to my knowledge the only one where Walt attended the dedication,” Kaye said.

Walt Disney died Sept. 11, 1966. Just two years later, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative six-cent stamp honoring him, and Marceline’s post office was awarded the honor of first-day issue. “Of course, Burbank and Anaheim and even Chicago also wanted that honor,” said Kaye. “But Walt’s wife, Lillian, insisted it be given to Marceline because Walt regarded our city as his true hometown.”

In recognition of this honor, on Aug. 23, 2004, the Marceline Post Office by an Act of Congress was officially renamed the Walt Disney Post Office, making it the only federal building in the United States named after Walt Disney. Today, visitors can request a special cancellation or postmark that bears Walt Disney’s name at this post office.

In 1968, just two years after Walt Disney’s death, the U.S. Post Office issued a 6 cent stamp (standard first-class rate at the time). Surrounding Walt are colorful children from around the world, similar in theme to the Disneyland’s “It’s a Small World” ride. The first-day issue was held in Marceline, whose post office was officially renamed the Walt Disney Post office on August 13, 2004.

The return visits to Marceline rekindled Walt’s fondness for the town and strengthened the bonds between Kaye’s family and the Disneys, especially when Kaye’s father and Walt began a collaboration on what Walt called his “Marceline project.” Walt envisioned turning his former family farm – plus additional acres surrounding it – into a living history park where children could learn about the nation’s farming heritage. “He thought there would be a time when children didn’t know what a bushel or a peck or an acre of land was. They wouldn’t know about seeds,” said Kaye.

The Disney Barn on the Disney Family Farm is open to the public, as is the entire acreage of the farm, including the site of the former “Dreaming Tree” where Walt would spend time drawing and dreaming. He and Roy visited the Dreaming Tree in 1956. Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

“He asked my dad to put the farm in our family’s name, to avoid the press getting wind of his plans,” Kaye shared, noting that she lives on the farm today.

The Disney Farm is open to the public and it’s free to roam the grounds, visit “the Barn,” a replica of the original Disney barn, where visitors can write their autographs on barn interior walls and beams. Visitors can also sit under a special tree, called “Son of Dreaming Tree.” The original Dreaming Tree, a cottonwood, under whose shady limbs young Walt would often sit and dream, was hit by lightning in 2008, leading to its gradual decline, and finally falling in a windstorm in 2015. “Son of Dreaming Tree,” now forty feet tall, was a sapling descended from the original tree planted in December 2004 by Walt’s grandson Bradford Disney Lund, along with Walt Disney World Ambassadors. This tree was nurtured with soil from the Magic Kingdom and water from the Rivers of America (the river that surrounds Tom Sawyer’s Island.)

“In the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, Walt would call our house regularly. The phone would ring – we had one phone then and it was tethered to the wall –and I’d answer it and hear, ‘Hey, Kaye, it’s Walt. Is your dad there?’ As soon as Dad got on the phone, Walt would tell him about yet another idea he had for the Marceline project.”

In addition to his publicized trips to Marceline, Walt made many spontaneous visits. “He would call my dad and ask him to pick him up at the station,” Kaye said. “He loved to ride trains and would make detours into town when he was traveling to or from New York or Chicago.”

After Kaye graduated from high school, Walt encouraged her to join the Disneyland team, which she did in 1967, becoming a guide at the Carousel of Progress, which moved to the park after its debut at the New York World’s Fair. She later worked in guest services.

Kaye met Ruth through Walt and Roy and over the years their friendship grew and deepened. “Ruth eventually moved to Portland, Oregon. She would often call me for support. Being the last of the Disney siblings alive, she was frequently asked to speak for the family or attend openings, but she was uncomfortable doing so, as she was a quiet and private person. When Disneyland opened, she told her brothers that she preferred to stay home, rather than deal with the crowds. Walt sent her a new television, so she could watch the opening festivities. That TV set is one of our museum exhibits.”

Ruth lived to age 91, passing on in 1995. Upon her death, her only son Ted Beecher, Jr, contacted Kaye. “Ted told me ‘Mom wanted you to have her stuff. She wanted it all to end up in Marceline.’

“I flew out to Oregon. It was before 9-11 when you could fly with empty suitcases, so I took two with me. As soon as I arrived, I knew I was in over my head. There was so much – letters, telegrams, personal gifts, photographs, documents – that I contacted a museum for help in collecting, cataloguing, scanning and archiving all of it. There were more than 3,000 artifacts. It was a true treasure trove.

“Ruth wanted us to tell the story of Marceline. She knew how important it was to Walt and Roy. She kept personal journals all her life. In her personal address book labeled ‘My Marceline friends,’ she scratched out her friends’ addresses and put in new ones throughout her entire life. It was amazing.”

Ruth’s artifacts became the seed collection that made the creation of a museum not only possible but compelling. Additionally, the museum has a Collector’s Gallery featuring items donated and loaned by Disney collectors from around the world. There is a reproduction of Park School, Walt Disney’s elementary school, scale models of Disneyland, and memorabilia of The Great Locomotive Chase (1956) and The Spirit of Mickey (1998), two films that premiered in Marceline.

A mural in downtown Marceline depicts the town’s downtown and the Disney Farm, just a mile away. Photo by Kris Grant.

Displays within the Walt Disney Hometown Museum include scale models of Disneyland, much of Ruth Disney’s personal letters and memorabilia, plus donations and loans of materials from Disney collectors worldwide. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

The Zurcher Building in downtown Marceline was Walt Disney’s inspiration for the Coca-Cola Building on a corner of Main Street USA, Disneyland. A mystery as to the Coca-Cola affiliation came into focus when an apartment annex attached to the Zurcher Building burned down in 2004, revealing a long-hidden Coca-Cola mural, dating back to 1906, there during Walt’s childhood years. Photo courtesy of Walt Disney Hometown Museum.

Today, the two-block downtown of Marceline has a few buildings that hail from Walt Disney’s childhood, including the Zurcher Building that was his prototype for the Coca-Cola Building on a Main Street corner. “It wasn’t until this century when a fire in an adjoining building that had been built in 1913 exposed a mural for Coca-Cola 5 cents that had gone up in 1905,” said Kaye. “Walt would have definitely seen that throughout his years here.”

Marceline’s Walt Disney Municipal Park features the original Midget Autopia Raceway track, which the Disneys donated to the town along with the cars in 1966 when the ride was closed at Disneyland to make way for “It’s a Small World.” The cars operated for 11 years in Marceline but were closed when it became difficult to obtain replacement parts for the one-of-a-kind vehicles. One of the cars is now part of the museum’s collection and the track has been refurbished into a walking trail.

Walt’s idyllic years in Marceline ended in 1911 when the family moved to Kansas City where Walt’s father acquired a newspaper route and enlisted his young sons to deliver papers at pre-dawn hours. The grueling work left little time for play, yet Walt found moments to nurture his imagination, sketching whenever he could and discovering a natural gift for drawing and storytelling. He even took Saturday art classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, experiences that laid for groundwork for his creative career. Though his path was far from easy, Walt’s persistence and vision ultimately carried him into a future beyond anything he could have dreamed.

When the Midget Autopia ride at Disneyland closed in 1966, Walt donated the cars and the track to Marceline, which operated them for the next 11 years, before they were retired due to maintenance issues. Today, the track is a walking trail in Walt Disney Municipal Park and occasionally the museum puts an autopia on display. Photos by Kris Grant.

When You Go

Missouri Highway 36

If you’re heading west across Missouri, consider taking Highway 36 from St. Joseph to Hannibal, dubbed “The Way of American Genius.” The names of entrepreneurs and notables who grew up along the way include J. C. Penney, Gen. John J. Pershing, Dr. A. T. Still, DO (founder of the first school of osteopathic medicine), Walter Cronkite, Mark Twain, and, of course, Walt Disney. You can also tour the Pony Express National Museum in St. Joseph and the Missouri Quilt Museum in Hamilton.

Lodging

There are limited hotels in Marceline, although there are several VRBOs. One VRBO occupies the second floor of the Zurcher Building on Main Street.

Best Western BrookfieldThis hotel is approximately 7.5 miles west of Marceline. www.bestwestern.com

Shopping on Main Street

Hazel & Grace BoutiqueWomen’s clothing and accessories (660) 413-2407

OliveSage EmporiumClothing and Giftswww.olivesageemporium.com

The Paper StationPaper products, art supplies, gifts and souvenirs of Marcelinewww.thepaperstationusa.com

The Dreaming Tree GalaThe gala that benefits the Walt Disney Hometown Museum will be held on the Disney Family Farm under a giant tent on September 20, 2025. Tickets and full information on the Walt Disney Hometown Museum website.

Magnolia Antiques & Tourist CenterAntiques including Disney memorabilia since 1990; also functions as the Chamber of Commerce office. 209 North Main Street (660) 376-2332

Restaurants on Main Street

Ma Vic’s Corner CaféOffers daily specials and if you show your museum stub, you get to have a Dusty Miller for dessert.

J&J on MainBar & Grill(660)376-9028

Los ChimasMexican restaurant(660) 402-5050

Attractions

Walt Disney Hometown Museum: Open Tuesday – SundayAdults, $10; Children 6 – 12, $5.00; 5 and under, free. You’ll find many specials when you show your museum stub throughout town. www.waltdisneymuseum.org

Disney Family Farm275 West Broadway StreetMarcelineOpen free to the public for wandering during daylight hours.